


Because I Love You-- Not Because I Don't

by OWLS_789 (mb_eratosthenes)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: And titles, Dating, F/M, Fluff, Ginny Weasley is incredible, I'm Bad At Tagging, Love Confessions, M/M, Neville Longbottom is a lot more observant than people give him credit for, Requited Love, Seamus is a flirt, and summaries, i swear my writing is pretty decent though, if you look real close you could argue there's some angst, with a pinch of jealousy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-05
Updated: 2019-01-05
Packaged: 2019-10-05 02:15:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17316164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mb_eratosthenes/pseuds/OWLS_789
Summary: Seamus Finnigan is a massive flirt toward everyone except for Dean. It took a while for him to figure out exactly why that is, but he was very glad when he did.





	Because I Love You-- Not Because I Don't

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you like it! Again, I'm very American so I'm not great at British stuff but I tried my best and that's what counts. 
> 
> ....right?

Third year was when they all began to notice that people were attractive. It was when the hormones and puberty began to kick in. Some people started to notice boys, some girls, or some, like Dean Thomas, both. Some didn’t notice anyone at all. Still others were how Seamus Finnigan seemed to be and found that everyone was becoming attractive. All around, many different sexualities were coming to light in their year, but the point is that Dean thought Seamus must find _everyone_ in Hogwarts attractive if he was flirting with them all.

                It’s not like Seamus intended to do anything with the people he flirted with, Dean knew that. Hell, the kid didn’t even kiss one person ‘til late into sixth year. The flirting was all in good fun.

It began about a quarter way through third year, and by the end of it, Seamus had flirted his way through about half the school, including the entirety of their year. That is, everyone in their year minus Dean himself.

 --------------------------------------

When they got back to school fourth year, Dean noticed it didn’t take long at all for Seamus to pick the game back up with triple the vigor.

                (don’t ask why Dean noticed so keenly his friend’s added enthusiasm)

                At the end of that disastrous year, Seamus had made at least one flirty comment to each and every student in every year of every school. That is, with Dean being the exception. In fact, for every opening that Seamus normally would have taken, he seemed to skirt around it.

                (and _definitely_ don’t ask why Dean was so keenly aware of _that_ )

\--------------------------------------

It was pretty late in fifth year when Seamus made his very first flirtatious joke directed at Dean. It was about two weeks after the two had made up and Seamus had apologized to Harry for not believing him that You-Know-Who had come back.

                Dean remembers the moment very clearly

 

                It was March, and things were starting to warm up a little. This particular day was the first nice, spring-like weather that Hogwarts had had in months. Since the day was so nice and they had finished their schoolwork for the weekend that Saturday, Dean and Seamus had decided to go hang out by the lake for a bit before dinner. They took a break from school and responsibilities and laid under the soft sunlight, Seamus talking and Dean drawing and listening.

                When they went to dinner Seamus was practically glowing and appeared to be a little distracted by his own thoughts. Dean chalked it up as an effect of the first warm day in what felt like forever.

                The Great Hall was up and buzzing by the time the two got there. Snippets of conversations from various groups of students floated through the air as they made their way to sit down. A small friend group of Hufflepuffs were passing bad jokes back and forth, while some Gryffindor third years discussed whatever shenanigans the Golden Trio had been caught getting up to recently. Dean didn’t listen too carefully to either conversation as they ventured toward some open seats by Neville and Ginny.

                No sooner had Dean sat down than the smell of the delicious spread assaulted his nose. Before he knew it, he’d loaded his plate with all sorts of dinner foods.

                “Yer kiddin’, right? ‘S obvious that apple pie’s the best dessert there is,” Seamus argued fairly loudly. Dean looked up with his first bite about halfway to his open mouth.    

                “No way!” Boasted Ginny, “I was just telling Neville how obviously the treacle is the tastiest thing at the table.”

                “Well, if we’re talkin’ tastiest thing the _table_ , then it must be you,” Seamus replied smoothly and without hesitation. Dean’s stomach churned a tad, despite the fact that he should be used to this by now, he really should. He shoved the forkful in his mouth, clamping his jaw just tightly enough that it made a quiet scraping noise as he pulled it from between his teeth.

                Ginny just laughed good-naturedly in response. If almost anybody had tried that line on her, she probably would have hexed them into next week. As it was, everyone knew Seamus was kidding around; they’d gotten used to it. The first time Seamus had flirted like that to Ginny, both her and Ron had almost murdered Seamus right there before he’d hastily explained that he meant nothing by it and they saw that he had been joking around with everyone in that way.

                The conversation continued as normal, the four chatting amiably about Quidditch, exam results, and other trivial things like which classroom Seamus had blown up this week. Pretty soon, the dessert courses were on the table and Dean was trying to scoop some pudding on his plate. Unfortunately (or perhaps it was fortunate, and all things really do happen for a reason), some spilled off the edge of the ornate silver spoon and landed on the table.

                Dean sighed dramatically. “Screw me.”

                And dear Seamus, in all his warm spring day haze, had immediately retorted, “Gladly,” without a second thought. And then froze. He looked like a deer caught in headlights, with his eyelids open wider than usual, and the Great Hall lights making his blue eyes gleam like the glittery ocean.

                Dean’s heart flopped almost painfully in his chest. For a second, he took a look at his best friend because he looked amazing at that moment with his stupidly beautiful face and with that thought Dean felt his entire body set on fire, including the butterflies in his stomach. All of this happened in a single heartbeat, and then he let out a surprised laugh because— even if it was by accident or by habit— Seamus Finnigan had flirted with him. Dean felt rather like he was walking on air. He’d been debating and questioning himself since he’d learned what it was like to live without his best mate back when they were fighting, but now the young wizard knew for sure— he had a giant, most probably unrequited crush on a certain Irishman.

                Seamus unfroze with a sort of relieved look on his face. Neville looked at them with a strange expression, like he understood what was going through everyone’s minds right at that moment. Dean wasn’t sure.

 

                From then one Dean was Seamus’ favorite victim, and he couldn’t pretend that he hated it all that much. In fact, Dean loved that his attention was mostly on him. He just hated the fact that it was all a joke and they were only best friends and Seamus didn’t mean anything by it. _It’s all a joke between friends_.

                So, yeah, maybe Dean was in just a _little_ too deep, but who’s to say?

                But they’re best friends and Dean needs to stop this nonsense. Seamus doesn’t mean anything by this, and Dean really must get over himself before it’s too late. So he tried to convince himself that, no, he’s _not_ secretly whipped for his best friend in the entire world. He’s attracted to someone totally different.

                And Ginny Weasley is brilliant and single, isn’t she?

\--------------------------------------

Ginny Weasley is brilliant indeed, and, by the beginning of his sixth year, no longer single. She was now dating Dean Thomas.

                Dean loved Ginny. She really was fantastic and beautiful and so bloody smart. What he soon discovered, though, was that she was his brilliant younger sister figure— not meant to be snogged by him. But he tried to make it work; he pushed forward.

                Seamus talked to him less and less. He never ever made a flirtatious comment toward him. He flirted more and more with everyone else except for Ginny, who he only joked with sometimes.

                Dean was miserable and trying to act elated. His best mate hardly looked him in the eye and he didn’t love his girlfriend in quite the way that should be required of a person to be snogging them wherever they go. Eventually, they broke up.

                The two had an argument about Dean’s tendencies to help her through the portrait hole (even though that time _he really didn’t_ ). It resulted in Ginny figuring out Dean’s feelings for a certain sandy-haired, blue-eyed Irishman. She was a lot more understanding and caring than he was expecting; he’d thought she would be disgusted. They stayed friends, and Dean was very relieved over how the whole ordeal went and that he didn’t have to continue their relationship any longer (e was still somewhat hurt when Ginny and Harry kissed so soon, even if he thought he didn’t deserve to be).

                Seamus did not start flirting with Dean again after they broke up, which just confused Dean more. In fact, it was mid-to-late may before anything significant happened between them.

               

                The two were joined at the hip, as always, and on their way to the library, walking and talking and trying to ignore how everything was falling to shambles in the wizarding world. Suddenly, Dean said or did something that seemed to have some sort of effect on Seamus, as the next thing Dean knew he was being dragged into an empty classroom.

                (if and when asked later, neither could recall what Dean had done, but Seamus confessed that whatever it was pushed him right over the edge and he just _had_ to do something about what was going on in his head)

                The classroom sort of smelled like mothballs Dean noted mildly as Seamus yanked the door closed behind him, cutting off air-flow from the hallway. He wrinkled his nose a little. And then ran into something. The momentum from the pull had kept him going forward a few feet and right into one of the large wooden desks in the room. Dean couldn’t see a thing, so he decided to sit before he ran into anything else. Mere seconds after entering the room he was comfortably settled atop the table, pressing a palm into the sharp corner of it. Another second and Seamus hadn’t said a word.

                “Come over here and tell me what’s wrong, Shay.” Dean was confused and more than a little worried for his friend, but he forced himself to sound like this were a normal occurrence and he was totally calm.

                Seamus walked right up in front of him. Dean still couldn’t see him or his expression that well. With the shadows and darkness, it was impossible to tell whether Seamus was really about to empty his stomach, or maybe he was glaring at him, or possibly bust out in song. Dean didn’t know that a facial expression could imply that, but it almost looked like he was going to. However, Seamus didn’t hesitate or stop for even a moment before he began talking.

                “I like ya a whole bloody lot Dean Thomas,“ He said. Dean dug his hand further into the point of the desk, making sure that he hadn’t just imagined that sentence come out of his friend’s mouth. It bit painfully into his palm. He accidentally inhaled the mothball smell a little too deeply and choked on it silently for a second. Seamus continued, “I’ve been crushin’ on ya since ‘bout second year even, I think, though I kinda denied i’ for a few years, and it isn’t even a small crush it’s this massive crush—,” and here his Irish accent began to thicken as panic set in, “and ‘oly bloody ‘ell I’m in heckin’ love with ya aren’t I. Crap. ‘M so sorry. ‘ll understand if ya never want ta talk to meh again, I really will Dean. ‘ll ‘nderstand if ya ‘ate me, really—”

                Dean shut him up quick by shoving his finger over his mate’s mouth in a shushing motion, and then answered, “Your accent’s cute when you’re nervous.”

                Seamus’ eyes widened in surprise and confusion. Dean rolled his eyes, though he doubted the other boy could see it from his position.

                “Yes, I love you too, idiot. Thought I’d been pretty obvious all these years. Now, if that’s all, then we should really get out of here. It smells bad.”

 

                When they sat down at a table in the library, they were still holding hands and glowing happily. I was a few minutes later before:

                “Wait, if you liked me, why do you flirt with everyone else but me?”

                Seamus looked down sheepishly, his light skin making his embarrassed flush apparent. “Well, ‘cause I was kind of tryin’ to get over ya, I guess. And I didn’t really want ta ruin anythin’. Because I love ya.” He explained carefully as if he’d never really thought much about it. Dean supposed he might not have.

                “Oh. You seemed to find everyone else attractive. I always thought it was because you just really didn’t like me like that.” His blush was made much less visible due to his dark complexion. Seamus chuckled. Dean loved that sound.

                “Nah. Never. They’re all attractive, bu’ they got nothin’ on ya. Was ‘cause I love ya, not ‘cause I don’t”

**Author's Note:**

> I tried my best. I actually kind of hate this a little bit, but I really hope that you enjoyed it. Leave feedback on revisions I could make or things for me to improve on in the future, please!  
> Thank you!


End file.
